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Kazakhstan Court Squeezes Life Out of Communists

This time around, a court in Kazakhstan’s business capital, Almaty, has ordered the liquidation of the Communist Party, according to a report in Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Kazakh service.

Party leader Toleubek Makhyzhanov told Azattyq that the ruling was made on August 3, but that he was informed only 10 days later.

This is not to say Astana has embarked on any kind of anti-communist hunt. An ersatz Communist People’s Party was created in 2004 with the tacit approval of the authorities.

While the newer party eschewed any genuinely opposition activities, the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, which was born out of the ashes of the ruling Soviet-era party once led by President Nursultan Nazarbayev, has long been a thorn in the side of the ruling order.

That has prompted Makhyzhanov to term the liquidation of his party as being politically motivated.

Azattyq cited Makhyzhanov as saying there were a few fundamental procedural issues with the Almaty court’s verdict.

“The case has been considered in the wrong jurisdiction. The Specialized Inter-district Economic Court of Almaty cannot issue this verdict when the central office of the party is in (the city of) Semey,” he was quoted as saying.

The Almaty court’s decision was based on the finding that the party purportedly only has 38,000 registered members, short of the 40,000 required by law. But the real figure of party members is 58,000, Makhyzhanov said. “Where did they get their figures from?” he told Azattyq.

The Communist Party’s opposition stand has earned it sustained pressure.

The party was temporarily suspended in October 2011 for pooling its forces with another opposition party to form the People’s Front movement.

There has been little comradely support from leftist brothers-in-arms.Vladislav Kosarev, a member of parliament with the Communist People’s Party, said the Almaty court verdict was perfectly lawful.

“The party got hit this way because of the leaders’ ignorant attitude toward party work,” Korasev told Azattyq.

Russia’s Communist Party, which has been highly vocal in its objections over the travails of their comrades in Ukraine, where the party also faces a ban, has remained silent so far on the situation in Kazakhstan.